Spelling words for December 14.

la laine  - wool / yarn

vilaine - naughty, wicked

un balai  - broom

seize - 16

une reine - queen

une fraise - strawberry

la neige - snow 

un filet - net

une baleine - whale

un hochet - rattle

Dioramas!

The students have all presented their research and dioramas. They did a wonderful job. I was particularly impressed with how quickly the students learned how to use our online encyclopaedia during computer lab time. I even had to extend our time in the lab as they were so enjoying the research process. Here are photos of their dioramas. Enjoy! Bon travail mes amis !!!

Coughs and colds

Apparently everyone is getting coughs and colds lately. I'm no exception!
Our classroom has run out of Kleenex - red alert!!
If you would be willing to donate some boxes of Kleenex, please do and I will thank you enormously!

Animal Projects

Today the students brought home the written component of their animal project. They are to complete it at home and to practise daily how they will present to the class next week. I have discussed with the students that it is not ok to read their findings. Instead they are to be very familiar with what they have written so that they can get through their presentation with just a glance or two at their paper. Students will have opportunities to work on their written paper in class also so it is important that they bring their work back to school with them each day. If you have any questions or concerns, please do let me know.

The following link is for the TDSB's virtual library, which has a wealth of information on animals.

Simply follow the link and select "Amazing Animals of the World" (left hand side, fourth link down) and type in the animal name (in English).  YOU WILL NEED A USERNAME & PASSWORD (please read the instructions below).  The information will be in English but students can use the website as a starting point for research.

1) Using Internet Explorer, go to http://go-middle.grolier.com/
2) To login, type torondsb2
3) The password is toro1264

If you have any problems, please let me know!

As well, I am including a sample diorama:

Trip to Munsch Bunch

Don't forget that this Friday afternoon we will be going to the Munsch Bunch performance, right after lunch!

Spelling words for Friday Nov 30.

le mouton - sheep
le ballon - ball
la confiture - jam
le camion - truck
la fontaine - fountain
fondue - melted
un avion - airplane
le pompier - firefighter
le leçon - lesson
tomber - to fall

Spelling words for Friday November 23rd.

La fusée - rocket ship
chez - at the house of
le papier - paper
le musée - museum
le nez - nose
un écolier - student
la télé - TV
le déjeuner - lunch
l'évier - sink (as in the kitchen sink)

The students did really well in their spelling this week. Keep up the good work and enjoy the PA day!

Animal research.

Today your child is coming home with information on a research project and diorama s/he will be working on over the next couple of weeks. Please read the information (both sides of the paper) and help your child to complete the research portion of the project. Also please begin to collect materials for making their diorama.

The TDSB has an online encyclopaedia called Grolier which you can access from home. Go to the tab "Amazing Animals of the World". The link is below:

http://go.grolier.com/

You can also use books and other web sites that you find helpful.

The kind of information you will need is:

• Animal category (mammal, reptile etc.).
• Habitat (continent, country, specific geography of its habitat e.g. water, marshland, savannah).
• Diet
• Other interesting features of the animal.

Happy researching and have fun with it!
Madame Paré.

Procedure Writing

Classroom cookbook

Last week, a letter was sent home outlining our final project for our unit on procedural writing.  The steps are as follows:

1) pick an EASY recipe at home (something that kids can easily do, with little assistance)
2) practise making this recipe together several times at home
3) make sure that your child knows what ingredients & materials are required
4) during the week of November 19th, students will need to write up (in French) a procedure on how to make their dish.  This writing will be done in class.  I will put the recipes together as a cookbook and we will present it to Mr. McGilvray & Ms. Harroun.


The more the students practise making this dish, the easier it will be for them to remember the ingredients, materials and steps.  As well, a simple recipe will be easier to write up in class.
Please read the following as an example of what I'm looking for:

TITLE: how to make a grilled cheese

MATERIALS: 2 slices of bread, cheddar cheese, butter, frying pan, stove, spatula, oven mits, plate

STEPS:
1) Butter one side of each slice of bread.
2) Put slices of cheddar cheese between the 2 slices of bread.
3) Heat the frying pan to medium on the stove.
4) Place the cheese sandwich in the frying pan, buttered side down.
5) Cook one side for 3 minutes.
6) Using the spatula, flip the grilled cheese to the other side.
7) Cook for 3 minutes.
8) Remove grilled cheese and place on a plate.
9) Turn off the stove.
10) Eat your grilled cheese!

Royal Winter Fair

Our trip is this Monday! The bus will leave promptly after morning announcements so be sure to arrive at school on time or you'll miss all the fun! 

Please ensure that your child brings a litterless lunch, a jacket, and comfortable walking shoes.

Merci!

Book Bags

This week book bags will not be coming home. My apologies. It's been a hectic week!

Remembrance Day Assembly...

Please note the date has changed for our school assembly for Remembrance Day. It will be held for primary classes on Friday November 9th, from 9 until 9.30 a.m.

Homework for week of Nov 5.

Here are some of the words you may need for this week's homework:

la vache - cow
le chat - cat
la niche - nest / dog house
la roche - rock
une pêche - peach
faire la pêche - to go fishing
une poche - pocket
la chute - waterfall
le cheval - horse
il achète - he buys
la cheminée - chimney
il détache - he detaches
la machine - machine
il chuchote - he whispers
elle déchire - she rips
il marche - he walks
la chèvre - goat
voler - to steal
un hochet - rattle (baby toy)
le jambon - ham
le chariot - shopping cart
le journal - newspaper
la jupe - skirt
la luge - sled
le cochon - pig
le chevalet - easel
le chêne - oak tree
cher / chère - expensive
la chemise - shirt

Procedural Writing

This week we started a unit on procedural writing.  The unit will last approximately four weeks.  The culminating activity, will be a class cook book that the students will create and present to Mr. McGilvray and Ms. Harroun.

In a few weeks, students will need to write up a recipe of their favourite meal.  We are asking that you please take the time to discuss with your child, what his/her favourite meal is at home.  It could be a simple grilled cheese sandwich or a chocolate ice cream sundae.  Think of things that are simple.  An elaborate spaghetti sauce will be difficult for students to write up.

Each week, could you please practise making this favourite meal together.  The students will need to have lots of experience gathering ingredients and preparing the food, in order to put together the final recipe. 

In their cook book recipe, we will be assessing whether all of the ingredients are listed and if the steps are clear and in order.

Bon appétitJ

Homework week of October 22.

There are three pages of homework this week, plus studying for spelling and daily book bag readings.
Some of the vocabulary this week is as follows:

le céleri - celery
l'épicerie - grocery store
le citron - lemon
les épices - spices
la cire - wax
une scie - a saw
la racine - root
la cime - the top
une façade - a facade/front
le cil - eyelash
la commode - chest of drawers
la noce - wedding
le laçage - lacing up
la cerise - cherry
les ciseaux - scissors
le cèdre - cedar tree
l'océan - ocean
le pouce - thumb
le cigare - cigar
la piscine - swimming pool
nager - to swim

Science - animals.

This week we also started our unit on animals. To that end, the students discussed what animals are, and what characteristics they share. Following this, we brainstormed how we could group animals according to shared characteristics and differences. Here are your children, hard at work...

Learning how to study for spelling tests.

I give the students ample time during the week to study their spelling words - while also expecting that they will spend a few minutes every evening doing the same thing! We have talked about different ways to study and this week I put them in pairs with white boards, markers, and socks (never worn ... and used to wipe the white board clean!) to practise with each other. Great fun and good learning ensued!

Measurement

This week we started a new unit on measurement, beginning with using non-standard units. They started with using straws, then coffee stirrers, and yesterday their hands and feet to measure just about everything in our classroom. Next week we'll start to discuss standard units of measure. Stay tuned! 

Homework

To clear up any confusion, I'm going to give a little further explanation regarding homework for the class.

Each week the children will have a spelling test. They will copy the words into their agenda and are expected to study them ready for a test every Friday.

The children will also bring home a book bag. These must be returned on Thursdays and it is hoped that you will read with your child every day.

The red homework folder contains reading and writing exercises.
On the first page, children are to read the poem and then practise saying the letter combinations in large print at the bottom of the page.
On the second page, children read and copy the syllables on the left hand side. They read the words and phrases on the right hand side. At the bottom of the page is a list of words and two phrases that they read and also copy.
On the third page, children read the words in the rectangle (1). For 2., they write down the word that corresponds with the picture. For 3. they copy the phrase.
On the fourth page, children identify and write down the word that corresponds with the picture.
On the fifth page, children circle the hard "g" sound (1). For 2., they write the syllables. For 3., they colour only the pictures that contain the hard "g" sound.
On the last page, children complete the words using the syllables on the left hand side to correspond with the picture.

Each week, the homework will follow much the same pattern.

Some of the vocabulary in this week's homework is:
le gâteau - cake
guéri - cured/better
la guêpe - wasp
le guide - guide/way
la gare - station
galope - gallop
le figure - face
fatigué - tired
rigole - laugh
une bague - a ring
regarder - to look at
gâté - spoilt
l'église - church
carotte - carrot
le garage - garage
le sofa - sofa
les raisins - grapes
le locomotive - train
le gant - glove
la galette - cookie
la langue - tongue

I hope that this is helpful!

We're going on a trip!

Hopefully your child has brought home a trip form by now. If you haven't seen it, have a good look in his or her backpack.

On November 5, three of Clairlea's grade 2 classes will be going to the Royal Winter Fair! I'm already excited. There will be so much to see and do - and it will be a perfect complement to our upcoming science unit on animals.

Remember to complete the forms as soon as possible and to send them back along with payment.

I'll be needing a couple of volunteers to help to chaperone the children. Please indicate on the forms if you'd like to come with us for this exciting day!

International Day of the Tree

Actually, it was International Day Against Tree Monocultures which you can read more about here:

http://www.foei.org/en/blog/international-day-against-monoculture-tree-plantations-september-21

In short, this is a day that raises awareness of the harm plantations cause to biodiversity and ecosystems around the world.

In our classroom, we recognized it by thinking about and discussing the many things that trees do to benefit our lives and the world we inhabit. Here's a small sampling of the student work. Enjoy!

Some students focused on how trees provide foods such as fruits, nuts, and maple syrup.

Some thought about how we use trees to make paper.
This brought on a discussion about the need to recycle so that we can preserve our trees.

Trees help to clean our air by stopping airborne particles, reducing heat,
and absorbing pollutants like carbon monoxide. 

Trees are a natural source of shelter and habitat for birds, animals, and insects... and they provide us with shade too!

Tree roots are important because they hold water and reduce flooding. If you were able to dig out an entire tree, you would see that its roots are as big as the tree itself. 

Roots are made up of large roots, small roots and rootlets. As tree roots grow they make large channels for water to move through. 

Tree branches and leaves stop raindrops from hitting the ground too fast so the soil has more time to absorb the rain water.  

Less water will run off the surface and that will reduce soil erosion. 

Trees provide shade so that less water evaporates from the soil.

Our schedule.

Now that things have settled down in our new classroom - here's some information to help you stay organized:

Day 1: 

• Health with Mr. Kryzanowski

Day 2: 

• Music with Miss Wright

Day 3: 

• Physical education with Mme Pare 
• Drama/dance with Mr. Poon 
• Library/computers with Mme Paré

Day 4: 

• Drama/dance with Mr. Poon

Day 5: 

• Visual arts with Mme Demeter, 
• DPA/health with Mr. Kryzanowski

Currently, Mondays are Day 4.

Students must be wearing running shoes for gym. This is for safety reasons. If your child has no running shoes on Day 3, s/he will have to sit out.

Don't forget to bring recorders for music on Day 2!

Class jobs.

We also came up with responsibilities for each week. Every student has a job that s/he does on a weekly rotation. We switch jobs at the beginning of each new week so that everyone gets a turn. So far the favourite job is to feed our class fish. We named him today and he now proudly sports the title "M. Arc en ciel".

Our class rules.

Les règles de la salle 103.

The whole class collaborated to decide upon rules and expectations for Room 103. None of the rules came from me... well... except that we must speak French all the time! The students all signed the rules and even added a thumb or fingerprint - which I turned into insects and other strange creatures!

Recounts.

This week we started to learn how to write a recount of a personal experience. The children have discussed the importance of including the "who", the "where", the "when", and the "why". We have also looked at how to put our thoughts down in order.

So what did we do? First of all, we needed a personal experience to write about so... we all went a mini-excursion to Edge Park! The children were asked to pay special attention to what they saw, what they smelled, what they heard. When we came back to the classroom, we reflected upon what we had experienced and we used our recount rules and processes to record our shared experience.

Here is what we came up with:

Lundi matin, Madame Paré et la classe sont allées à Edge Park. Il a fait beau, donc nous n'avons pas porté nos manteaux. Nous avons quitté l'école en ligne et nous avons été silencieux. Tout d'un coup, quand Mme a ouvrit la porte, la classe a couru et a rigolé. Pendant notre visite au parc, nous avons vu des papillons jaunes, des oiseaux, et deux bébés. Nous avons entendu les voitures et les élèves qui rigolaient. En plus, nous avons entendu des élèves qui criaient " Madame ! "  Toute la classe a joué.   On a été très bien amusé !  C'êtait excitant et on veut y aller une autre fois !

Running towards Edge Park.

Almost there...

First sight of the park!

Je suis un lapin au parc Madame!

On joue sur le bascule.

On explore.

Regarde-moi Madame ! 

On s'amuse avec les balançoires.

On monte et descende la colline.

On a vu des bébés.

Voici notre belle classe !

On explore la petite forêt.

Regarde parmi les arbres !

On retourne à l'école.

Madame - regarde tout le sable dans mes souliers !

The students are also working on drawing pictures of their favourite moment during our mini-excursion. Here are some that were finished today: